Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
The headline of the site says that it’s about the Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad (The Third Rail Line) and to that end it provides a useful chronology of the line as well as a car roster and route map. However, the inclusion of a chronology and roster of the Fox River Lines tends to make the focus of the site seem more toward covering the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railroad which operated both the Third Rail Division as well as the Fox River Division. If you’re looking for information on a road that traveled to both Aurora and Elgin (traveling through Wheaton or not) this is your stop.

Note: On October 31, 2008, AOL permanently shut down all AOL Hometown and AOL Member sites. No known replacement for the above site exists.

Chicago Aurora & Elgin at Chicagorailfan.com
Here is the section of Bill Vandervoort’s extensive fan-site on Chicagoland transportation dedicated specifically to discussing the Aurora & Elgin. The site offers track diagrams, trail photos, and tips on exploring the former Aurora & Elgin right of way. Also on the site is a page on various bus services the Sunset Lines ran throughout its years.

Dave's (CA&E) Rail Pix
Here is probably the largest collection of pictures of the "Roarin' Elgin" currently available on the internet. Pictures range from all over the system and at varying points at time (pre and post abandonment). Also available are pictures of the cars as they are today at several railway museums. However the portion on the CA&E is just one section of a much larger site. Dave's Rail Pix (the homepage of which can be reached by clicking here) covers a wide range of electric railroads from various eras.

Don's (CA&E) Rail Photos
Another section of a larger whole, here is a page from railfan Don Ross on the Chicago Aurora & Elgin. Site includes not only pictures of rolling stock but also has some information on the cars. Also available from the site are prints of photographs from the Don Ross collection, sold in various sizes. Beyond the Aurora & Elgin, the site offers photographs and information on a vast number of railroads. (Homepage of Don's Rail Photos is available by clicking here)

The Great Third Rail Yahoo! Group
An online forum dedicated to discussing various topics regarding the Great Third Rail and other Fox River Valley electrics.

Remembering the 'Ror'n' Elgin
The CA&E as remembered by railfan Glen Brewer. The site has four pages of information with plenty of photographs from the Villa Park and Ardmore stations, as well as post abandonment photos taken along the line from Elmhurst to Elgin.

Hicks Car Works blog
The Blog of Randall and Frank Hicks chronicling the restoration work being done at the Illinois Railway Museum. Most entries are about the work on the CA&E cars there and provide interesting little tidbits about the history of the cars.

American-Rails.com: the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad
American-Rails.com is dedicated to bringing awareness about the history of United States' railroading, both past and present, and serving as a resource tool to describe and educate about American railroading in general. The section on the CA&E provides some history, a selection of roster information, and a map.

Valley Model Railroad Association
Situated within the former Clintonville substation/depot, the Valley Model Railroad Association operates their HO scale model railroad layout. In addition to information about the Association and photos of the layout, the website also contains a page on the history of the former CA&E station.

CA&ERR.com
CA&ERR.com is the online home of the Julie Johnson Historical Collection of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway and Aurora Elgin and Chicago R.R. Housed within is a large collection of photographs and documents spanning the entire life of the railroad. Also available are back issues of First & Fastest from 2009 to the first issue and copies of out of print railfan books. Registration is required for access, however there is no cost for signing up.

Illinois Prairie Path
Though the grading is different, most of the Aurora & Elgin's right of way has been preserved as the Illinois Prairie Path, the nation’s very first Rails-to-Trails conversion. The website offers information on their not-for-profit corporation, information on using the trail, trail maps, as well as a history of the path itself and its predecessor: the Aurora & Elgin.

Illinois Prairie Path Yahoo! Group
A Yahoo! group focused on the Illinois Prairie Path and various other trails. The group has photos of the CA&E right of way as it exists today and also has some photos of the CA&E in operation.

Chicago-“L”.org
Chicago-“L”.org is the largest and most comprehensive site on Chicago’s rapid transit system. This site covers topics from the opening of the Alley “L” to the rerouting of the Douglas trains making the CTA’s “Pink Line.” Stations, branches, signage, histories, operations, you name it: Chicago-L.org covers it all. Included is information on the Metropolitan West Side Elevated whose tracks the Great Third Rail traveled over to reach the Loop.

Many pages on GreatThirdrail.org will have related links to rapid transit topics which are covered on Chicago-“L”.org. Such links will appear in brown for easy identification.

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad
The largest and most complete site available on the Insull-owned sister-interurban to the north: the North Shore Line. Included on the site is a history, listings and pictures of stations, a car roster, time tables, and more.

Links to specific North Shore Line topics covered on northshoreline.com will appear in appear in green for easy identification.

Shore Line Interurban Historical Society
The Shore Line Interurban Historical Society (referred to as SLIHS or, more often, simply as “Shore Line”) is a railfan group whose primary focus is the "Big Three" Insull interurbans (the North Shore Line, South Shore Line and the Great Third Rail) but whose interests also include the “L”, the Chicago Surface Lines, the Fox River Lines as well as many other Chicagoland electric railways. They publish an excellent quarterly magazine, First & Fastest, as well as their new Dispatch series (the first of which—Cooperation Moves the Public—was on how the Aurora & Elgin and the Met/CRT worked together). Their website contains information on their organization as well as information on many Chicagoland electrics… including that one third rail interurban that served the cities of Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin.

Central Electric Railfans Association
The Central Electric Railfans Association (CERA) is a not-for-profit railfan group whose purpose is to encourage the study of the history, equipment, and the operation of urban, suburban, and mainline electric railroads. To this end, they regularly host meetings which are open to the public on the fourth Friday of every month (excepting July and August). Occasionally they sponsor fan trips and they also publish a book (known as bulletins) on an annual basis.

The Arthur U. Gerber Homepage
A website dedicated to Arthur U. Gerber. Gerber, most notably known for being Samuel Insull's staff architect, is responsible for the design of the still existing and preserved CA&E Villa Park station, the restored North Shore Line/Chicago Rapid Transit Dempster Street station, numerous “L” stations, as well as the “Insull Spanish” style used on both the North Shore and South Shore Lines. Here you'll find pictures and information on the restoration of the Dempster station, stations--both existing and demolished--that were designed by Gerber, non-station architecture by Gerber, as well as a listing of places where Gerber appeared in the news, and an overview of Samuel Insull. Well worth the visit.

Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of Chicago's famed rapid transit system (the “L”) as well as Chicago area bus routes numbered 1 through 206. Their website provides service information on using the system and includes a very brief history of the Authority (but no history of the routes or the equipment they operate).

Metra - The way to really fly.
If the Sunset Lines were still in existence today, they'd probably be owned by Metra: the operator of Chicago's commuter rail system. As with the CTA, their site does not provide any historical information on the lines or equipment they operate, but does offer current service information such as schedules, maps, and fare structure in abundance.

Many places along the Main Line and Geneva branch can be visited by riding Metra’s Union Pacific West Line (formerly the Chicago & Northwestern’s West Line) which runs more or less parallel to the Illinois Prairie Path.

Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District
The website of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD): current owner and operator of the South Shore Line's passenger service. The site features maps, schedules, and just about all other necessary information on riding the line. They also have a decent history of the South Shore Line from its earliest days and a history of NICTD and how it came to own and operate the passenger service.

Chicago SouthShore & South Bend Railroad
The official website of the other half of the South Shore Line: the freight carrier. Site includes some pictures and information as well as a brief history.

Villa Park Historical Society
The Villa Park Historical Society is housed within the preserved 1929 Villa Avenue station. Their historical interests include virtually all things Villa Park (including the famous Ovaltine). Naturally, a major portion of what they have in the museum is on the Chicago Aurora & Elgin. The museum shop has a variety of things for sale including the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society’s First & Fastest and various DVD's on the Aurora & Elgin. They also host an annual ice cream social which is held (of course) on July 3rd at the museum.

Franzosenbusch Heritage Project
Preservation and restoration of the two-room schoolhouse located within Franzosenbusch Prairie House is the mission of the Franzosenbusch Heritage Project, however the focus of the project goes beyond just the Prairie House. The interests of the project also include the history of the Village of Westchester and the Proviso Township area (which, in addition to Westchester, includes the CA&E towns of Berkeley, Hillside, Bellwood, Maywood, and Forest Park). Various histories of Proviso Township are available at the website.

Part of the website also includes brief histories of both the Westchester and Mt. Carmel branches of the CA&E. The page for both lines can quickly be found by clicking here.

Illinois Railway Museum
The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) is America's largest railway museum. In their collection they have just about everything: steam and diesel locomotives, main line passenger cars, streetcars, trolley busses, interurban and rapid transit cars and more. A good portion of their equipment they operate on their own tracks, most of which is on the right of way of the Elgin & Belvidere Electric. Trolley busses (which were also known as "trackless trolleys") are also occasionally operated and run on several IRM streets which are equipped with trolley wire. The museum also features a fascinating collection of railroad signals and signs, and is the home of the Pullman Library, a massive archive of records of the Pullman Company which built railroad cars for 101 years.

IRM is located in Union, Illinois (about an hour or so from Chicago) and is home to CA&E cars 308, 309, 321, and 431 as well as an AE&FRE car, several North and South Shore Line cars (including Electroliner 801-802), and “L” cars of various eras.

Fox River Trolley Museum
Preserving and operating over a portion of the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric's right of way, the Fox River Trolley Museum (known formerly as RELIC) is dedicated to "Education through Demonstration" of cars from the trolley/interurban era. The museum has three operating Aurora & Elgin wooden interurban cars, including 1902-built car 20 (the oldest operating interurban car in America.) Also in their collection is a CA&E line car, as well as several cars of the North Shore Line, the South Shore Line, and the “L”; an AE&FRE diesel locomotive and flatcar, and more.

Seashore Trolley Museum
Founded in 1939 to save open trolley car 31 of the Biddeford and Saco Railroad, one of the last such cars operating in the area, today Seashore Trolley Museum (the operating entity of the New England Electric Railway Historical Society) is the oldest and largest electric railway museum in the entire world. Their mission is to provide a living history of public transportation relevant to North American life with an emphasis on streetcar and interurban service, as well as rapid transit, trackless trolley, and bus services.

Seashore is probably not someplace for most former "Roarin' Elgin" riders or frequent Prairie Path users to visit on a lazy summer afternoon, being located in Kennebunkport, Maine. However in their vast collection is CA&E car 434 (one of only two surviving 420 series cars) as well as North Shore Line cars 415, 420, and 755 and a married pair of CTA PCC rapid transit cars. If you happen to be in the area (or one day happen to find yourself in the area) Seashore is definitely worth a visit.

Rockhill Trolley Museum
The Rockhill Trolley Museum in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania is another example of an operating trolley museum. Naturally, most of their collection revolves around Pennsylvania electrics, however in their collection they do have CA&E car 315 as well as Libertyliner "Independence Hall" (formerly North Shore Line Electroliner 803-804). Interestingly, Rockhill Trolley Museum is adjacent to the East Broad Top Railroad, an operating narrow gauge steam museum which is open on most of the same days as the trolley museum. A great location for both traction and steam.

Midwest Electric Railway Museum
The Midwest Electric Railway Museum in Mt Pleasant, Iowa is where car 320 now resides. The museum itself is a small outfit which is generally only open for the few days of the Old Threshers Reunion when their trolley cars operate on their trolley loop. The museum is, however, available throughout the year for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, group picnics and more.